Cosima von Bonin (born 1962) is a German contemporary artist whose interdisciplinary practice includes sculpture, textiles, sound, film, and performance. She is known for being a political artist as well as by her humour, aquatic caricatures, and use of pop-culture characters, such as Daffy Duck.
Early life and education Cosima von Bonin was born in Mombasa, Kenya in 1962."Petzel Gallery - Cosima von Bonin" , Petzel Gallery, Retrieved 4 October 2014. She was raised in Austria.
Von Bonin studied at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg (University of Fine Arts in Hamburg), where she studied under the tutelage of Martin Kippenberger and assistant Michael Krebber. Von Bonin said that she met many important figures while in college, including Friedrich Petzel, Jutta Koether, and Diedrich Diederischsen.
In 1989, von Bonin moved to Cologne. There, she worked at a bar, whilst also connecting with the writers Diedrich Diederichsen and Clara Drechsler, and artist Martin Kippenberger.
When von Bonin was still a student, she collaborated with Josef Strau in 1990, creating a work where von Bonin exhibited herself in a window display at a Hamburg showroom.
Work
Von Bonin works across a variety of media, including sculpture (using plush toys, cardboard), sound, film, photography, and textiles (including tapestry). Von Bonin has also exhibited works across a variety of venues including at parties, DJ sets, music performances and audio and video exhibitions. She
Von Bonin's work explores the relationship between works of art and the world of fashion, music and architecture. She also draws inspiration from the intellectual, artistic, and musical culture of her neighbourhood in Cologne, where she lives and works."About the artist", Kemper Art Museum, Retrieved 4 October 2014. She has been described as bringing play and fun into her work.
Von Bonin often focuses on collective artistic production and works mainly in collaborations. She has collaborated with other artists including Dirk von Lowtzow, Michael Krebber, Mark von Schlegell, Kai Althoff, Sergej Jensen
Von Bonin does not explain the meaning of her works. She has also said that her work "has nothing to say, that there is nothing to learn from it." Art critics Jan Avgikos and Holly Myers, feel that understanding von Bonin’s works can be difficult or frustrating for this reason. She uses humor in her works. but art critics Nuit Banai and Jan Avgikos have argued that the employment of humor may be used to make her seem elusive. She has been called a political artist as well, especially when describing her work in her sixth solo exhibition, 'What if it Barks?'. Director of Raven Row, Alex Sainsbury, describes von Bonin's work as "anti-didactic and anti-authoritarian."
Her work has been compared to Sigmar Polke, Martin Kippenberger, and Rosemarie Trockel. Von Bonin has said that André Cadere, Marcel Broodthaers, Cady Noland, Mike Kelley, Isa Genzken, Poul Gernes and Martin Kippenberger influenced her.
Career Von Bonin's 2016 - 2017 exhibition Who's Exploiting Who in the Deep Sea was her first solo museum exhibition in New York and Canada. The works within the exhibition consisted of textiles, music, sculpture, performance, video, and painting. One of the sculptures in this exhibition is a soft sculpture Total Produce (Morality) (2010), it is a large octopus with varying and colourful patterns sat upon a just as colourful raised platform that has lights underneath. Von Bonin had included past artworks from the 2000s displayed in this exhibition.
Von Bonin's first full-scale installation was in her exhibition 'What If It Barks?''' in 2018 at Petzel Gallery, New York, her eighth show with the gallery. The theme was mostly aquatic except for a few works, such as a miniature hippopotamus inside of a cylindrical birdhouse titled HIPPO'S HOUSE (PROPERTY OF ARNOLD MOSSELMAN, THE HAGUE). The exhibition contained oversized cat tins that bellowed smoke, this can is called AUTHORITY PURÉE, there are wooden barrels with polyester shark heads poking out from the top and a plush plaid missile in its mouth, fish of varying sizes sporting clothes and ukuleles, and more. In the exhibition, von Bonin also presented a performative writing called a performative utterance.
In 2019, Von Bonin had her first solo exhibition in Mexico at House of Gaga, Mexico City. The exhibition contained a pink steel-wired cement mixer that held a drove of pink pig stuffed animals, four wooden canvases of Daffy Duck being enclosed and squashed by a black entity, an orange steel-wire cement mixer with dark blue lobster claws dangling and handcuffed to the barrel, and more. Von Bonin has been represented by the House of Gaga in Mexico City since 2019.
In 2025, von Bonin held an exhibition Upstairs Downstairs'' at Raven Row in London. The exhibition featured a selection of work spanning 35 years, from the early 1990s until 2025.
In 2026, von Bonin was commissioned to create plush whales, clams, crabs, and other sea creatures for the first runway show of Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez for Loewe during Paris Fashion Week.Alex Greenberger (6 March 2026), ARTnews.
Exhibitions Solo
YearTitleInstitutionLocationRef2000The CousinsBraunschweig Art Association, Kunstverein BraunschweigBraunschweig2007- 2008Roger and OutMuseum of Contemporary ArtLos Angeles"Cosima von Bonin: Roger and Out", MoCA, Retrieved 4 October 2014.2010The Fatigue EmpireKunsthaus BregenzAustria"Cosima von Bonin: The Fatigue Empire", eflux, Retrieved 4 October 2014.2010 - 2011The Lazy SusanWitte de With Center for Contemporary ArtRotterdam2011ArnolfiniBristolMamcoGeneva2011 - 2012Museum LudwigCologne2011Character AppropriationMildred Lane Kemper Art MuseumSt. Louis"Cosima von Bonin", Kemper Art Museum, Retrieved 4 October 2014.2014 - 2015Hippies Use the Side Door The Year 2014 Has Lost the PlotMumokVienna"Cosima von Bonin", mumok, Retrieved 22 January 2015.2016Who's Exploiting Who in the Deep SeaGlasgow InternationalGlasgow2016 - 2017SculptureCenterQueens, New York2017Oakville GalleriesOakville, Ontario2018'What If It Barks?''' |Petzel Gallery |New York
|2019 |Shit and Chanel|House of Gaga |Mexico City
|2023 |Boy at Work|Lumiar Cité |Lisbon
|2023 - 2024 |WHAT IF THEY BARK?|High Line |New York
| rowspan="2" |2024 |The Faker|Galerie Neu |Berlin
|Feelings|Schirn Kunsthalle |Frankfurt
|2024 - 2025 |Songs for Gay Dogs|MUDAM |Luxembourg
|2025 |Upstairs Downstairs''Raven RowLondon
Group
YearTitleInstitutionLocationRef1995First Graz Fan Fest1996Glockengeschrei nach Deutz - das Beste aller Seiten (The Bell Screams Towards Deutz - the Best of all Sides)1997Home Sweet HomeDeichtorhallen Hamburg2007Documenta 12
Public collections Cosima von Bonin's art can be found in a number of public collections, including:
Museum of Modern Art Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Museum Ludwig, Cologne Sammlung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin Staedelscher Museums-Verein, Frankfurt
Personal life Von Bonin lives in Cologne with her husband, Michael Krebber.
See also List of German women artists Cosima von Bonin Curriculum Vitae
References
Further reading